How a Florida death certificate is used in Spain
When someone dies in Florida leaving a flat, a bank account or shares in Spain, the heirs start at a Spanish notaría. Before the notario can work out who inherits, the heirs normally need Spain's certificate from the Registro General de Actos de Última Voluntad, and for a death abroad that request rests on the foreign death certificate, apostilled and translated. The same certificate goes to the bank and the land registry later. If the person was Spanish, the death should also be recorded in the Spanish civil registry.
Translation for Spain
Our general rule is a translation certified by the translator, notarized by a different notary and apostilled in Florida. Spain may instead require a traducción jurada by a sworn translator appointed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which publishes a searchable list. For nationality files, the Ministry of Justice also accepts translations done or checked at Spanish consulates abroad. Translate after the apostille and include the apostille page.
What your Florida death certificate must look like
Only a certified copy from the Florida Bureau of Vital Statistics or a county health department can be apostilled: it carries the State Registrar's signature that the Department of State verifies. Funeral-home copies, photocopies and scans are rejected, and copies certified before 2014 must be replaced with a fresh certified copy (order through VitalChek or the county health department). If the receiving office needs the cause of death, ask for the version that includes it — both versions can be apostilled.
Step by step: death certificate apostille for Spain
- Order online — pick "Death certificate" and "Spain" on the order form; $220 per document, $380 for two, $160 each for three or more.
- Send a photo — reply to the confirmation email with a picture of the document. We check the certification before anything ships, so a defect is caught before it costs you a round trip.
- Drop it at FedEx — after approval, FedEx emails you a prepaid QR code; show it at any FedEx Office or Ship Center, no printer or label needed.
- Filed in person in Tallahassee — we walk the document into the Florida Department of State and ship the apostilled original back by FedEx within 5–7 business days of receipt — to your U.S. address, or to Spain with international return shipping (+$100).
One Florida apostille is all the U.S. side needs for Spain. Whatever the office there asks for after that — a translation, a filing deadline — is covered above.